Promotional Materials
by ADeclanFan
Summary: Henry feels lost without his job at the Old City Sanctuary. Magnus has a surprise for him at a 'team building' retreat in Norway.


Promotional Materials

"Norway?" Henry complained. "Come on, Doc. What's in Norway?"

Magnus smirked at the man who was very much a son, and source of tremendous pride, to her. "Team building exercise," Helen told him, being intentionally cryptic.

"It can't be a team building exercise without you."

Magnus smiled at Henry and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek to cover the tears that misted her eyes. "Thank you for that." He'd been quite vocal that he wasn't happy Helen was keeping a low profile, remaining in the underground Sanctuary for a while to help the rumors of her demise take root and grow strong. Henry didn't like her faking her death even more. Honesty was and would always be the best policy with Henry and Helen loved him even more for that. "Who says I won't be there?"

"You aren't on my flight." He waved the printed boarding pass at her.

Magnus smiled and patted his arm. "Go on, Henry," she coaxed. "I'll see you in the morning."

"Alright. See you in the morning."

As he walked away, she could hear him grumbling about Scandinavian countries and snow boots.

Magnus turned her back to him and grinned like a maniac. "I love it when a plan comes together."

Henry checked the hotel named in his itinerary three times to make sure he had it right. This hotel had to be the most expensive in Oslo. The place was swank and reeked of money and luxury. It was not the usual budget conscious accommodations Magnus made them book. Why would the Doc pick this place for a week of team building exercises? Why did Helen Magnus do anything?

At the desk, the receptionist smiled brightly at him. Henry ducked his head shyly but smiled back, feeling sheepish and out of place. When she handed him the key cards and showed him the way to his room, Henry couldn't help but stare at the paper map in disbelief. Penthouse suite? Now, he knew there had to be some sort of mix up. He had never even seen a penthouse suite. Ever.

"i assure you there is no mistake, Mr. Foss. This is your room for the week."

Henry took the key cards and the receptionist said, "I'll have someone bring your bag up." Her tone brooked no argument.

Fighting the urge to roll his eyes, Henry managed a polite, "Thank you."

The elevator ride was smooth and quiet, no bumps or ominous squeaks-creaks like the elevators of the Old City Sanctuary. The thought made Henry sad. The Sanctuary, his home, was gone. Nothing remained of it but a pile of burned rubble and a blackened slab of concrete foundation.

Everything was different now in the underground, new and modern, and he should be grateful for all the doc had done in creating a safe place for them to live, but he missed the drafty old place.

Damn it.

Now, after a two week 'vacation' in London with Erika, Henry was itching to DO something, anything but sit on his backside and watch the underground Sanctuary run like clockwork around him. They had plenty of people to handle intakes and do 2am feedings, they had security teams for captures and keeping order, cleaning and maintenance crews. There was a staffed hospital and schools for all ages and learning levels.

What they didn't seem to have was a place for Henry to take out his frustrations and boredom on an unsuspecting piece of tech. If Magnus made him vacation much longer, he'd go mad and get himself tossed into the shiny new jail cells. As much as he liked the place, Henry didn't want to be the underground Sanctuary's first lock up.

It was just after six pm, and yet Henry yawned. He ate dinner from the extensive, five star room service menu. A note with the meal said it was paid for by the Sanctuary Network Advisory Council. After dinner, Henry showered and got ready for bed.

When he woke the next morning, he checked his emails first thing, not wanting to miss the mysterious team building. There was an email from Magnus; it stated he was to be in conference room #12 at 9:30am sharp for the first exercise. The door to conference room #12 was closed, and nobody was in the hall outside, so Henry opened the door and stuck his head inside.

At the end of the room, there was a projector screen from which Magnus stared back at him, larger than life. "Good morning, Henry, do come in." He did as he was told, and let the door close behind him.

Magnus continued, "I believe you know most of the people here."

Henry scanned the dozen or so faces seated around the table, and she was right, he did know them. The only empty chair was at the end of the table where he was standing, and in the chair to the left of the empty seat sat Erika. She smiled at him. He was about to ask what was going on when Magnus continued, "Please have a seat at the head of the table, Henry, and we'll begin."

"Sure, Doc." He slid into the proffered chair and Erika patted his arm reassuringly. "What's going on?"

"This is the first official meeting of the Technological Development Department. Your team couldn't begin without it's Director, of course. "

"Director? You made me the Director of Tech?" Henry looked at the assembled faces, and they just smiled back at him, expectant and happy. In the corner seat opposite Erika, Nikola Tesla sat with his arms crossed over his chest, petulantly.

"That's right. Would you all please give a warm welcome to your new boss and our Director of Technological Development, Henry Foss."

Everyone, all his friends and tech geek colleagues from all the Sanctuaries worldwide, clapped and cheered and offered their congratulations on his promotion. Tesla muttered something and then in a louder voice, he said, "Congratulations, Heinrich."

The image of Magnus glanced at the pouty vampire and she smiled even wider, "Everyone in this department answers to you, Henry. Even Nikola must clear his projects through you or he doesn't receive funding from the Sanctuary's offshore accounts."

When Henry was able to pick his jaw up off the table, Magnus winked at him. "Your first order of business as Director is to appoint two person teams to continue to staff the remaining surface Sanctuaries in London and New York City." Erika put a thick file folder in front of him from the stack she was guarding.

"Thank you, Erika," Magnus said. "We have seven applicants for those positions. You'll need to find a new place for Erika, too. I think she'd like to be near you when the baby comes. There are certain perks to being the boss, along with the larger paycheck and less field work. You are going to take the job, aren't you, Henry?"

"Oh hell yeah!"

"Good." The look Magnus gave him was filled with pride. "The Advisory Committee would like to see the remaining people divided into teams for weapons development, security systems and communication, self sufficiency and power generation, and medical advancement. Those are just rough guidelines, of course, some projects will need to overlap. It will be up to you to find each person's strengths and where they can be the most happy and productive. I'm sure Nikola won't mind helping you if you have any questions, will you, Nikola?"

"I'll help. I've become an expert on hiring and firing." The vampire's tone was typical snarky Tesla, but then it was understandable given that Magnus had just appointed Henry to be Nikola's keeper.

"Excellent. I'll be waiting for your report." With that, the image of Magnus winked out and the screen went dark.

"Right, okay. Who wants to go live in London and learn to drink tea, Guinness and eat fish and chips?" There was a group chuckle and a few hands went up. He looked at Erika, "You're coming home with me."

"But of course."

Looking at the people who were both his friends and fellow tech gurus, Henry decided Norway wasn't such a bad place to be after all.

The End.

(I find it ironic that my acronym for the council comes out to SNAC. Hopefully they won't run into many hungry abnormals.)


End file.
